Abduction Case Is Unraveling Because Victim Has Disappeared

January 19, 2000|By Lenny Savino of The Sentinel Staff

KISSIMMEE - An abduction case against five men may be unraveling because the man deputies found recently with his hands tied behind his back, wearing only boxer shorts and a T-shirt, has not contacted investigators.

Petr Soumah, 36, was supposed to meet with an Orange County deputy sheriff to file a report the day he was kidnapped. He missed the appointment, and investigators now say they cannot find him.

``The last I heard, he was going to go back to the Czech Republic,'' said Sgt. Steve Lang, the lead investigator for the Orange County Sheriff's Office. ``He may have left the country.''

All five charged in the case are out of jail on bond.

The case began during the early-morning hours of Jan. 8 when Osceola County deputies stopped two cars off East U.S. Highway 192. Inside one of the cars was Soumah, his hands bound with large plastic ties, according to police reports.

Soumah said he had just been abducted from his Orlando apartment. Two of his captors knocked on his door, displayed badges and took him into custody for what they said was an old drunken driving charge, police reports say. Soumah soon realized they were not police officers, but friends of a man he had fought with about $400 he said the man owed him.

Deputies confiscated a loaded .45 from Thomas Williams, 28, of Orlando, and charged him with false imprisonment. Jan Sertler, 40, of Fort Walton Beach, Michael Malos, 28, of Orlando, David Miarka, 28, and Kamil Miarka, 22, both of Alabama, also were charged with false imprisonment.

Osceola sheriff's investigators then notified Orange County detectives to handle the abduction, which occurred in their jurisdiction.

Although Soumah filed charges in Osceola and signed a statement that he was kidnapped in Orange County, the case is in jeopardy.

``We have enough to charge them with kidnapping,'' Lang said. ``But if he doesn't testify, the charges will probably be dropped.''

The case gets more complicated because agencies in both Orange and Osceola are involved. Four of the five men charged said they were citizens of the Czech Republic, investigators said. Only three of the five men spoke English, and all three confessed to the kidnapping, said Sgt. Andy Lang, the lead investigator for the Osceola County Sheriff's Office.

Soumah could not be reached for comment. Neighbors at his apartment were unaware whether he was still living there.